Did you forget I had this blog? Because I did!

I have been so busy traveling, going to class, meeting up with family, etc. that I have been remiss towards writing this blog. Apologies! I will try to catch you up!

First off, we went to the Loire Valley a few weeks back. The area is known for their wine and castles, and I can safely tell you that they deliver. We stayed in Blois, which is a small town about a 20 minute car ride from. Chambord. Other than our hostel being far from anything remotely interesting in the city, I loved Blois. We walked by the river, and ate at some amazing restaurants. They also have a castle in the center of town, and when we went to visit it, they were getting ready for the Carnival parade. So there were all sorts of crazy costumes and drums in the castle courtyard, and we got to watch some interesting dances before we toured the castle.

We had to take a taxi out to Chambord that Sunday, because the bus apparently does not run on Sundays (oops!). It was well worth the Euro we spent though; plus it was once again free admission with our visas. Chambord was the hunting lodge of François I, who, for all intents and purposes of a quick French history lesson, basically brought the Renaissance to France (including Leonardo de Vinci who supposedly designed the spiral staircase). We only got to glimpse a tiny piece of the Loire Valley, but what we did see was simply picturesque.

My friend Jessica and I at Chambord! Fun Fact: It was the
inspiration behind the Beast's castle in Disney's The Beauty
and the Beast.

The next weekend we went on a university excursion to Honfleur and Etretat. Honfleur is basically this adorable port-town, where we just walked around and squealed about how cute everything was, and I bought a doorknob (it's handmade and precious). And Etretat is a famous rock formation off some cliffs that many artists (such as Monet) have painted. The beach is made of large pebbles, and you can walk up a couple different sides of the cliffs for some stellar views. We also saw people filming some sort of low budget music video. I tried to get in the background, but they had a guy patrolling to stop people like me, so I resisted.The entire weekend was beautiful, and I am so happy that the university plans excursions to places I may not normally go to without them!

Etretat!

The week after that my Mom, Grandpa, and Granny stopped in Caen for five days. Unfortunately since I walk everywhere here, I was not always very efficient in figuring out what buses to take, which was not so great since it was freezing most of the time. However, regardless of the temperamental Normandy weather, we managed to see a lot of Caen, including le Abbaye aux Hommes. I was pleasantly surprised when we discovered William the Conquerer is buried there. We went to Bayeux Friday, and then had dinner with my wonderful host family. Saturday we split up. I went to Rouen to see where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, and the cathedral from Madame Bovary. We also had an scrumptious lunch at the Beaux Arts Museum.  The family went to the Dday beaches, and we met back up for mass and dinner! Sunday I took them to our crêperie, to give them a taste of what may keep me from ever coming home :)

Place de Jean d'Arc. I find it a little disconcerting that there is
a carousel by the church that commemorates someone being
lit on fire. The shape of the church is supposed to look like flames.

Whew. You are almost caught up.

This past weekend we went with the university to the source of my url (let her eat gateau),Versailles, where I realized my camera had died, and that my shoe had a hole straight through the bottom. Despite all of this Versailles turned out to be one of the best trips. The interior of the castle is great. I am sure you could have guessed that. We power-walked through it though, because there were so many tourists, none of whom seemed to have any sense of personal space. After a quick "mirror pic" in le Galerie des Glaces, we found refuge in a restaurant for lunch, and then made our way to the gardens.

I know that while they were building this sumptuous palace, a lot of people had zero power and were starving, but I have to hand it to the French absolute monarchy of past, they knew how to build some awesome gardens. And the good news is that now everyone can enjoy them! Yay bourgeois!

The weather was beyond nice, and after being under the almost constant grey of beautiful Normandyfor three months, I almost couldn't handle it. You might not be able to truly appreciate this unless you have been in Caen this semester. We walked around the gardens for a little while, there are fountains around every corner, and in some parts you could smell the flowers from several yards away. However, by far the best part, was when we took a nap by the Grand Canal. But seriously, we lounged about like little Marie Antoinettes for a good two and a half hours. I even got a little sun on my face! I kept thinking I wonder how mad Louis XIV (who had Versailles built and thought he was so awesome he made is symbol the sun) would be if he could see a how many peasants were picnicking at his pretty little castle? There were people everywhere since the weather was so nice. They were playing classical music in some parts and in others people where just spontaneously singing and playing the guitar. I felt a like got a glimpse into how Marie Antoinette must have lived, until I noticed that the hole in my shoe had turned into a hole in my sock, and was making a hole in the bottom of my foot... so much for feeling like royalty :)

Photo from WikiMedia.
Versailles.

As you can see I have been very busy in the past weeks, but luckily this Friday starts my two week spring break! Considering I haven't been on a spring break trip since middle school, I think my plans will suffice. We will visit the south of France the first week and then some of Spain the second. I cannot wait to get to a beach,  park it, and do nothing except read and perhaps drink some lemonade.

Since I will be vacationing for two weeks, I would not expect another blog until after that! Can't wait to tell you about it all!